Grey Mare Romance

^l<WW>WMi?9>"'*l**<*<"*'^''i*!
l
n -^^
/^
THE
Greymare
Romance
EDWIN J. ELLIS.
WITH TITLE-PAGE AND TWENTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS

BY THE AUTHOR.
GEORGE ALLEN,
8, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR, LONDON;
AND
SUNNYSIDE, ORPINGTON.
1891.
[y1// rights reserved.']
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
TITLE-PAGE.
I. HAPPY DAYS OF INNOCENCE

IV LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
17. FREE-HOOF DRAWING EXAMINATION 36
18. NATURAL HISTORY EXAMINATION .

37
19. EDUCATION WITH HONOURS .

39
20. THE UNIVERSITY COURSE AT HOME 41
21. RIPE AT LAST .... 44

22. THE UNIVERSITY COURSE JUSTIFIED 47
"
23. " BLESS YOU, MY CHILDREN ! 48
24. MAGNANIMITY 57
THE GREYMARE ROMANCE.
CHAPTER I.
" T DARESAY you think that as I am

only a little donkey my opinion is not
worth having," said a strange voice in my
ear ; adding, in an injured tone, " There, I
knew it."
Between the first words and the last I had

looked round for the speaker, and discovered
that there was no human being visible. The

time was near midnight. The place was
Barnes Common. I was young, and unpros-

perously, though not quite hopelessly, in love.
The weather was warm and cloudy. There

I
2 THE GREYMARE ROMANCE.
was no moon. I had come out to think,

and was lying on my back doing so.
All of a sudden it flashed upon me that

perhaps, in the darkness, a Thought Reader
had come out with the same purpose, and had
been distracted from his intention by the
thread of my meditations, which I had been
told that these gifted people could decipher
from the mind-waves that roll out of the head
as easily as a clerk can read the tape that
crawls from a telegraphic machine.
I sat up and looked round.

" You are right enough so far," said the
voice, "but your commonest phases of con-

sciousness want cultivating. You do not even
know what you think yourself."

" Yes, I do," I replied, out loud, at hazard ;
for if one can do nothing else with a bodiless
voice one can at least contradict it. " I was
thinking, when you interrupted me, of the

"
way in which her hair last night
THE GREYMARE ROMANCE. 3
" Before that," said the voice, with a quiet
assumption of knowing all that I had thought

about her hair last night.
" Well, let me see," I began, setting my

wits to work in earnest ;
" before that we were
"
on the balcony, and her hand
" I hate hands," said the voice, interrupting
again ;
" before that, please."
" As you seem to know all about it," I
replied, getting irritated at last, " perhaps you

will tell me what you mean, and where you
are buried."
" I am not buried," it answered.
" Don't talk nonsense," I replied, " you are.
Even on this dark night I should see your
legs against the sky if you were standing

about here. It is my belief that you are
either a ghost, or a bit of new duplex tele-
graphy photophone, under the surface of the

common, working up through the grass on
account of the night dew having got through

a crack of the insulators and established a
connection with the sod I am lying on."
The voice laughed, a rather unpleasant
laugh laughs that indicate that we are fools
are so often unpleasant and answered,

" Do you not recollect that as you flung
yourself down you observed an outcast don-
key, grazing alone in the darkness, and said
to yourself, with what you thought would

have looked rather well by daylight as a
cynical smile, that you were the biggest ass
"
of the two ?
It was a fact. And what was more, I
began to perceive that I was conversing with
the donkey himself, or, as I learned presently,
herself.
"
" Have I got brain fever ? I exclaimed.
At the same moment the probable results
raced through my mind, the discovery of a

well-dressed young man delirious on Barnes
Common, the identification, the paragraph in

the papers, the feelings of Violet when she

read it, my gradual recovery and restoration
to health, her assiduous care of me that

was her pale face flitting by the bed side on
which my eyes had first dwelt with dreamy
consciousness of blessed repose when the
desperate struggle with the dark monster

was over, and youth and my iron constitution
had triumphed and when her cool hand

was laid
" There you go about hands again," said

the little donkey, in an impatient voice ;
" I
do so hate them nasty pulpy silly things ;
and so cunning and treacherous, winding

round sticks and harness, and all that, and
worrying your life out hands indeed ! I've
got none myself, I'm proud to say, and if
I overlook it in you, it is only because you
are unusually intelligent for a man, and so
I am glad to think as little about your
defects as possible. Now listen to me.

When, on the stroke of midnight, one of

your lot and one of mine are face to face
and alone, and a ray of lucidity reveals to
you that you are not quite what you thought

yourself in the way of superiority to us, we
are permitted for one hour to speak to you.
As for my knowing what you were thinking,

that is nothing. We can all do that. We
are naturally what you call 'thought readers,'
only we are not such donkeys as to say so.
We should be worked to death in the city if
we admitted it. Carts are bad enough ; but

commerce
At this word I thought for a moment that
she was going to bray, but she checked herself
and continued,
" We have been fooling too long over this
explanation. I have a story to tell you of

myself and a friend, which may help you,
and I am willing to do it in return for your
moment of mental humility. So now, as

there are only about forty-five minutes left
before the opportunity is gone for ever, for
it would be too much to expect of you that

you should ever be humble again after you
have talked with me, you had better listen."
I sat up and listened, feeling my pulse
furtively, and trying to remember what I had
read about the symptoms, and how the next
developments were likely to show themselves.
The Donkey paused to collect itself for a
long blast of concentrated egotism, and then
began as they do on the stage, when two

chairs are placed in the middle of a drawing-
room, right in the draught from the folding

doors. And this is what she said :
CHAPTER II.
T was on this common that we first

I met "
"Who first met?" I asked.

" Young Mr. Colter and I."
" Then you are a lady, V presume ? " I ex-
claimed, lifting my hat.
" Of course," she answered, quietly.
I did not presume to interrupt again, but
I remember saying to myself in a confused
sort of way, as I was putting my hat on
again, "Why not? There is nothing es-

"
sentially unsuited to a lady in being a
There it stopped. The mute politeness that
regulates even our thoughts for us without
our knowing it, when we are meditating about

those to whom we look up, put a reverential
blankness over my mind before the last word

shaped itself consciously. Perhaps also I
had a half remembrance that my thoughts
were being read like a book, but that need
not have troubled me. On reflection, I do

not seriously suppose that even donkeys,
gifted as they are, can talk about the
romance of their lives, and perceive what

other people think of them at the same
time.
" You have heard," she continued, " an old
proverb which says that '

the grey mare is the
better horse,' it is the motto of the family.
Mrs. Greymare was his mother. I need
hardly add that Mr. Greymare was his

"
father
" Mr. Greymare ? " I muttered ;

" sure-
"
ly
" It hardly sounds like a masculine name,
does it ? " said the little Donkey. " But that

lO THE GREYMARE ROMANCE.
does not matter. I assure you I am quite in
order, and in grammar. Just to give you
an example from among yourselves. In your
own language you say Mr. Siddons, do not

you? Very well. It is the same thing. If
you were obliged to say 'The husband of
Mrs. Siddons' each time, life would be too

short."
" Quite so," I assented, for I began to re-
flect that if we argued every point, life, or
rather three-quarters of an hoiir of it, would

not be long enough for the interesting story
I was about to hear.
" Well," she began again, " where was I ?
Oh, yes : on this common we met. How

changed it is ! There was hardly a house in
sight. There were green fields. There were

grazing grounds. There were horses, did I
tell you that he was a horse ? Oh, how I
adored him ! Yes, and there were paddocks.
Dear me ! It was like paradise."

THE GREYMARE ROMANCE. II
She was lapsing into meditation. To set
her going again, I asked, " How old was

he?"
" One year," she said, " which you know is
as good as ten or twenty among you silly
men."
I hardly liked ten and twenty being mixed
up in this way. I was eighteen myself, and

knew the difference. But there is a purpose,
no doubt, of a providential kind in the super-
ciliousness of ladies on some subjects. It
may not be pleasant, but it is a natural pro-
tection against danger, like the ink of the
cuttlefish.
" Yes," she went on, " he was young. I
too was young, and considered very pretty.
I wore my hair all fuzzy over my large brown

eyes, which gave them a great deal of expres-
sion. He, too, had an unstudied carelessness
about his mane and tail which became
him. It was spring-time. It is generally
spring-time when a horse is one year old.
We danced."
" I understand your feelings," I murmured.
" We did not dance like you, shuffling
spinning half asleep like night owls," she
replied. " We leaped for joy in the morning
sun. People thought it was flies. They were

wrong. It was love."
" Much the same thing," I threw in ;

" wings,
you know, and prickly things, and all that."
" Oh, if you are a poet !

" she said, getting
up.
" No ! No ! No !
" I cried hurriedly, " sit
down and go on."
She sat down rather slowly, and began

again. " I am telling you about this for your
good. I do not expect you to understand it
altogether, and for mercy's sake do not keep
interrupting in a silly way to show off your

appreciativeness. It makes me nervous.
Well, as I was saying, we danced. Ah, my

''-y-^"i--yr^
-^ ^-^,PP^
^-<c2S>'
{To /ace p. 12.
HAPPY DAYS OF INNOCENCE.

3
poor man ! If you could conceive the thrill
that passed through me when his hoof touched

"
mine
" What is a thrill, please ? " I asked meekly.
" I wonder if I could explain it to you so
that you would understand," she answered.
" You see, when people don't grasp it by
instinct, there is something very difficult
about explaining the point of a thrill."
" Like a joke ? " I suggested.

" Not at all like a joke," she snapped out.
" There, you have quite upset me again. I
feel like a cart of vegetables with one wheel
knocked off unexpectedly. It is very trying."

"When his hoof touched yours " I
prompted, and waited for the result.
" Ah !
" she sighed, " it was so strange.
Yes, I think I can explain a thrill to you.
You feel all of a sudden as though all your

hair was blown off to the very tip of your
tail, like the fluff off a dandelion, and you

remain like a smooth white kid glove on a
table. And then soft warmth plays down

your system, just as though the stable-cat's
kitten were rubbing its head all along your

"
back, and then
She stopped again. I had dashed my hat
on the ground and was holding my head with

both hands. Reason tottered on her throne.
" Well, well, I must hurry on," she said,
" and come to the catastrophe. We were

observed." " So were we," I groaned,
thinking of Violet and myself last night.
"We were observed, I stated," she con-
tinued. " Have the goodness to attend. Yes

Mr. and Mrs. Greymare had their eye on us.
They did not play fair. They turned their
backs and pretended to notice nothing."

" You have a way of saying *
yes ' auto-
matically," I noticed. " I presume that you

caught the habit in replying to young Mr.
Greymare's proposals."
\_To face />. 15.
U PLI FTED.
5
" You are right," she murmured, " I did
not, I could not say him nay."
Now that the whole thing returns to my

mind in broad daylight, I feel a hesitation
about writing that last word without a "

g " and
an " h " in it somewhere, but I suppose it is all
right as it stands. I am not sure what she said

next. She went off into a kind of mumbling
ecstasy. Presently I distinguished a sentence
beginning " When our lips touched ah, how

we were lifted up " and so on and so on.
It was easy to see which of us was the poet,
but I forbore to ask for explanations. Mr.
Colter might have been a regular Pegasus,
a sort of fly horse, for anything I could tell.
As for her, I began to suspect that her con-

duct had been rather light. Of course I could
see nothing, partly because there was no
moon, and partly because she still wore her

hair fuzzy on her forehead to give expression
to her dark eyes. But by an increased

6
warmth in the summer air that played about

us in the obscurity I knew that she was
blushing.
" The next moment," she shrieked, " we

"
were separated !
" So were we," I groaned again, and this
time she did not rebuke me. For some

moments we mingled our tears in silence.
\To face p. i6.
THE STERN DECREE.

CHAPTER III.
" T WILL not tell you," she resumed, " the
language of Mrs. Greymare. She need

not have reminded me that I was beneath
him. I never denied it. But there have been
cases. Did I not meet a tall mule in military
society whose father Cophetua was in the
Stud Book, and whose mother was no better

than I am ? And I am told they lived very
happily. Well, I suppose that it was fate.
Still, I think Mr. Greymare might have done
something. I glanced at him as I turned
away weeping, but he never said a word.
He looked sympathetic, poor soul, and I dare-
say his heart bled for me. Young Mr. Colter
shed tears as they led him off I know he

2
8
did, I found them on the common after-
wards. That thistle grows on the very spot.

"
It is a hard world !
" And what did they do next ?

" I
asked.
" What did they do ? What did they not
do ?
"
They bought him a groom. They
taught him paces. They took him to the
Park. They got him up as if it was Church

Parade every day. They made him look so
stiff and sour that in a year he seemed to have
lived all his life in a club. He spent hours
every day in being curry-combed, brushed,
whisped, leathered, and hand-polished before
a cheval glass. They made him think of
nothing but himself He forgot me. He

ceased to wish to see me again. He had got
to know so much more than I. It would

have taken him a week to explain his dressing-
table to me. We were no longer equals. He

once saw me going to Covent Garden in a
^^^^k^ '
" . \
'^^^^&4-:;ic^-'^^-^^^^^
/.,l;I?/it>^/t?
r-
k>'^
^^^'m^''^-^^-^^::^^ :d#^-^
{To face p. i8.
HOME-BRED POLISH.
[ To face p. 19.
UNRIPE STILL.
" 9
THE GREVMARE ROMANCE. 1
cart. He turned away. I felt hurt so keenly
that the costermonger, though prompted by

kindness, was unable to distract niy thoughts
for an hour, until he cut his stick to a point
and poked a raw place on my hind quarters.
That did me good, and I was thankful to him.
It is well for all of us to be restored some-
times to a true perception of the realities of
life. I knew then for the first time that even
costermongers were part of the Scheme of
Things."
" Well and what next ?
" I asked, for she
had relapsed again into a silence heavy with

mute emotion.
" What next ? " she rasped out hoarsely,
coming a step nearer. " I will tell you what

next. They introduced him to an eligible
"
young Filly !
That was indeed hard. " And did she
accept him ?
" Not a bit, at least, not at first in fact,

she turned up her nose at him, and told him
to go to school."
"
" And did he go ?
" Yes, he did ; that is, he went to what I
suppose you would call the University. But

not all at once, you know. You see the
young Filly was such a good catch that Mrs.

Greymare thought that the danger of sepa-
rating them was too great. Just as she might
be coming round, Mr. Colter might be for-
getting her at a distance, and by the time she
was ready to accept him he might be entangled

with another. But you will hardly believe it.
"
He fell in love with her !
"
" No !
" Yes, he did ! Was it not disgraceful ?
And she did nothing but snub him. At last
he took to wandering alone in the woods

weeping for her the wicked crocodile ! and
cutting her image on a tree. They caught
him at it once. '
That boy must have
i'Fo face p. 11.
"LOVES YOUNG DREAM."

"
distraction : it is preying on his mind,' said
Mrs. Greymare. '

He must ; it is,' said Mr.
Greymare, for he knew better than to go
beyond his orders. That was the way they

used to talk. Oh, / know them."
" Evidently you do. It is wonderful," I
answered.
"
" Not a bit. Don't I know j'ou ?
" Yes," I replied modestly ;
" but that is so
easy. I am only a man."
"If so much," said the little Donkey; and I
could see in the dark that she laid her ears back.
" Well," she went on, " so they walked him
home and began a long speech, and the end
of it all was, that if he did not go and im-
prove his mind at once he should be treated
like a foal again. They meant by that, of
course, to threaten him with having his groom

taken away ;
and what is more, Mrs. Greymare
had the impudence to say that he should be

sent back to me as a punishment
!

"
" He was delighted, of course !
"Not a bit of it. The nasty fickle thing
had been growing up all the time from day

to day, and he made a sarcastic remark about
having passed the pons assinonun, and being
ready for a University course."

" "
Shameful !
" So I thought ; but I have grown up m}^-

self since, and I understand him. Well, the
thing was settled, and he was in good spirits
again. It takes very little to put a horse in
good spirits when he is good, and spirited.
A man, that wants discourse of instinct, would

have mourned longer."
I sighed, and fumbled in my breast for my
pocket " Hamlet." She continued :
"So Mrs. Greymare set to work to pack
his box for him, because those hectoring
creatures are not without motherly tendencies
it belongs to their self-importance, you

know. Oh, I heard all about it from the
{To face p. 23.
MATERNAL SOLICITUDE.
servants after. There sat old Greymare in
the room, pretending to read the paper, but
swelling all the time with pride to think that
he had actually a son going to the University.

And above him hung the picture of his father
in an eighteenth-century attitude, when male
animals went in for what they called elegance.
Beyond, on the same wall, was a photograph

of Mrs. Greymare as a filly, and opposite the
window hung an old painting of the Black
Knight's head from King Arthur's chess
board, the ancestor of the family. Mrs.
Greymare sat on the floor with the boy's box

before her, putting in everything she could
think of, while the young rascal stood and
laughed at her."
" What did he laugh for ? " I asked.
" Oh, maternal solicitude always seems a
good joke to the young," replied the wise
little Donkey. " I believe the fact is that she
wanted to put in knee-caps, and Thorley's

food for cattle. Didn't your mother insert
mittens and jam when you went to Cam-

"
bridge ?
" No, indeed ; I wish she had," I repHed.

" Well," said my Donkey, " I suppose not.
You are not exactly of my time, and the old

are getting so young now, and the young are
born so old, that it is really difficult to know

funny things from pathos, or it would be, if
there were no more lovers. They are a great
comfort ; they unite the two, and the difference
doesn't matter."
"Then you are not one yourself?"
" Oh, no. I am cured, you know. That is
why I am relating this. But one's heart is
never quite so blank but what the trail of the
serpent will waft o'er it still, as the poet says.
I'm not so ignorant about poets. Ah, dear

me ! he has gone from me, and it is years
and years since I have heard his voice. But

even now the music of it lingers in my ears.
THE GREYxMARE ROMANCE. 25
You would be surprised at the amount of

music that can linger in my ears."
" Not at all," I replied.
There was a displeased silence for a mo-

ment. I wonder why. Could I have said
anything impolite ?
CHAPTER IV.
" \T TELL, my poor man, so the young
Greymare went up, as I believe they
call it, and was duly admitted. I don't know

the details, but at any rate he got in some-
how, and went about, looking rather sheepish
at first, in one of those hatchments they stick
on their heads, and a sort of Inverness cape
made of umbrella stuff they wear round their
shoulders at the University, rain or shine."

" I beg your pardon," said I, " the cap and
gown, which I suppose you are referring to,
are not in the least like a hatchment and
an Inverness cape."
" It is all the same to me,'' said the Donkey,
with importance in her voice.
[To face p. 27.
PAT ERNAL ADVICE.

THE GREYMARE ROMANCE. 2/
Perhaps she was right there. I did not
dispute the point.

" But the improving part, I am told," said
the Donkey, " was when his father took leave
of him in the tan-yard, or quadrangle, or
whatever they call it. He held his hoofs
long and hard, and at last said in a choking
voice,
"
' Bless you, my colt ! Be good and indus-
trious.'
"
' I will, sire,' said the young fellow."
'^Did he say '

sire '
to his father ? " I asked.
" Of course," said my little friend, " colts
always do."
"But I trust that it went no farther," I
hinted.
" What do you mean ? " she asked inno-
cently.
" I mean," I answered, with a little hesita-
tion, " that I hope he did not say '

dam ' to
his mother."
" Oh, I daresay he did," said the Donkey ;
" mares don't mind."

She was right there. I recalled having
ridden an old mare to hounds whom I often
addressed very much that way, though I had

no hereditary right to do so. She did not
mind in the least.
" And how did the young fellow get on
at the University ? " I asked.

" Very well, I believe," she answered. " He
was good and industrious. That is to say,
he was industrious that he might be good.

He chose his professors with care, and they
tell me he was soon as good with the gloves,
at any rate, as any one of his year, size, and

weight. But he went in for everything at
once. You should have seen him dive. I
was working down the towing-path at that
time, and it used to bring the tears into my

eyes. I thought it must require such courage
to dive, when one has such a very long nose.
f To face p. 28.
THE UNIVERSITY COURSE. NO. I.

[ To face p. 29-
THE UNIVERSITY COURSE. NO. II

Fancy how the river must have flowed to his
eyes, underground, so to speak ! But swim-

ming is an elegant, gentlemanly amusement.
They are not always racing as they do in
boats. I hate those boats. The two-year-
olds so often overstrain themselves, especially
in sculling. You see I know all about it.
My bargee used to explain to wandering

ladies on the banks, and wonder why they
were so stingy not to give him drinks. Of

course he did not know that it was shyness.
Lots of them would have liked to have given
him sixpence, only they had not the moral

courage. They did not know I could read
their thoughts. No more did he. He used

to be disappointed, and whenever he was he
used to kick me. How can men be so
clumsy as to kick forward? The thing is
absurd. I kicked him once, just to show him
how. But he never got up again. I think
I broke something. He was very drunk, and

rolled into the river. Then I was sold back

to another coster. They thought they were
"
men. So they were. I despise men !
"It is very kind of you to talk to me so
much, in that case," I said.
" Oh, I don't mean lovers," she answered.
" I told you I made an exception in their
favour long ago. But I must go on telling
you about my dear boy's University career.
The fact was that he wanted to be perfect.
He read an advertisement in a sporting paper
about another colt that was not only '

reliable
at water,' he was that already, and '

handy
with his feet,' the gloves made him that, but
'
clever at tirhber ' too, so he took to cricket.
I don't profess to understand cricket, though
Mrs. Greymare has told me that fillies go in
for it now, and donkeys will come down to it
some day, for anything I can tell. They do

make such a fuss all about one little ball in
a big field. There is not the least reason to

\ To face />. 30.
THE UNIVERSITY COURSE. NO. III.

[To face p- yi.
THE UNIVERSITY COURSE. NO. IV.

1
run after it in the way they do. You could
knock a ton of balls that size about the same
ground, and there would be heaps of room.
And they very seldom hit each other with it.
I have seen much better fun at Covent Garden

when the costers were in good spirits, pota-
toes were cheap, and the policeman was not

looking."
" We will change the subject," said I, for
I felt myself getting angry. I am considered
a bit of a cricketer in more than one county,
and I don't look on the game as at all a fit
subject for joking.

" Well," said the Donkey, " if you like, I am
quite willing, for I don't think much more of
cricket than you do ;

" which was a very spite-
ful remark, if she could still read my thoughts

at all.
" There is football, now," she went on. **

I
find some sense in football. Even m^n let out

pretty frankly there. I have seen kicks that
J^ THE GREYMARE ROMANCE.
would not disgrace a training stable. Of

course they don't kick back as they ought to,
except sometimes in a crowd, but when they
do !
! I used often to wish to run in and
have a turn with them. It was good, I can
tell you, and there cannot be the smallest
doubt about its being industry. I think if he
had been at the matches that old Greymare

would have been pleased."
" Judging by my own experience," I ven-
tured to say, " old Greymare would have

expected his young sprig to do a little of
his industry indoors. You can't take a very
high position with sports only."

" That shows you don't know much about
pole-jumping," she answered triumphantly.
" Why, I have seen that lad take a long stick
like the mast of a cutter, and run along with
it held out before him as if he intended
to go right through something. Then, when
he got near enough to a sort of high-level

\To face p. 32.
THE UNIVERSITY COURSE. NO. V,

\,To/ace p. 33-
THE UNIVERSITY COURSE. NO. VI.

:
curtain-rod up in the air, like the backbone

of the roof of a house without the side ribs
and end walls, he just planted his pole in the
ground at one end, and went sailing up as the

other end rose till he popped over the roof-
bar, leaving his pole behind, and descended
like a falling star. It was lovely."
" I daresay, but you can't take a degree like

"
that
" Oh, rubbish. He could take a haystack
like that. I daresay j<??/ can't," she answêred.

" But," I insisted, " what did he study in-
"
doors ?
" Oh, lots : Geography, to begin with. At

least the use of the globes, I'm certain. My
bargee saw him at it once. It is an experi-
mental sort of study. There's a green table :
that represents Space. There's a rim round it
that must be allegorical for Fate, I suppose.
Then there are gaps in the rim, and nets
beyond the gaps, which mean Accident and
3
Chance, or something of that kind. Then there
is a red globe, which means the World, or the

Soul, I don't quite know ; and two white ones,
that must be Good and Evil (one has a black
spot, the wicked one), and these two go tilting
at the red one, and very often at each other,
and sometimes they all go to the chaos
outside. I think there is some improvement

in that study."
" Did your bargee tell you all this ? " I
asked.
" How stupid you are, of course not !

"
she said. " You might have known it was

a Donkey's idea, if you had been paying the
smallest attention."
I begged pardon.
" But he must have studied lots more," she
went on. " Because of the way he came out at

the exams. " Oh yes, they have exams., just
like you, only much more sensible. There's
the vwd voce to begin with. They do that

VToface p. 34-
THE UNIVERSITY COURSE. NO. VII.

I ,9
^yîr/^-t^'k.
?îf^-^
iToface p. 35.
VIVA VOCE EXAMINATION.

on Brighton Downs. Three examiners post

themselves at distances of a third of a mile
apart, in a row. My boy made himself heard

with perfect ease by the very furthest of them.
"
What do you think of that ? Full marks ?
" I could not have done that," I answered

modestly.
" You ! ! !
" she said.
There was a long silence, during which my

wounded humility swelled up and became
very painful. I had noticed before that ladies
who are in love are not always scrupulously
careful of the feelings of persons of another
sex. Considerations of species and its limita-
tions do not always weigh with them. This

is undoubtedly an imperfection in their
characters. There is so very little, except

character, that is attractive in ladies, that im-
perfections in the character department are
peculiarly trying. I am not able to say for
certain .that they are infrequent. This is my

serious opinion. I must press it upon Violet's
father. I think he will recognise that I have

a decided vocation, considering my age, for
the profession of husband.

" I daresay you think that is all," she con-
tinued, when she saw that philosophy was
beginning to console me, and that the silence
did not ache quite so much.
" Doubtless," I murmured.

"You mean you don't care," she said,
" but that is only your envy. However, I will
tell you. There was Free-hoof Drawing.
That is Art, if you like. My colt could draw a

wagon and get in the shafts correctly without
even looking at it. What do you think of

"
that ?
" Full marks," I murmured, " with the
whip," I added to myself I knew that she
heard my thought that time, but for some

reason or other she made no comment I am
sorry to say that her abstention gratified me.
^"7^
[ To face /. 36.
FREE-HOOF DRAWING EXAMINATION.

Mrnm^: il iLrrviffr
{To /ace p. 37.
NATURAL HISTORY EXAMINATION

THE GREYMARE ROMANCE. 3/
It is strange how revengeful the best of us are.
When I say the best of us, of course. I mean

myself. This is not vain-glory. It is habit,
like eating and drinking. They say that if
you deprive a man absolutely of salt in his
food he will die. I wonder if he could live if
you extracted all element of conceit from his
mind. I don't think he could ; I am quite sure
that he ought not to. I think I will not force
this opinion upon Violet's father.
"Then there was Natural History," she
went on. " I helped him there. Can you

imagine the question that turned the scale ?
It was about the natural diet of the domestic
ass. No one else knew. He answered it, on
paper, unmistakably. I believe I may say
that his University distinctions are not with-
out credit to me, though of course I do not

claim any praise for it myself Still, you must
admit that if I had not existed at all, things
would have been different. I hope you do

not consider that as going too far. There is
nothing I dislike more than people who take

what is not their due. I never heard any
one say that donkeys liked praise except

a German, and I think he hardly knew what
he was saying. I know that he once made an
English friend of his very angry by clapping
him on the back and calling him a '

prig.'
He said that he meant a good square fellow
and that it was allegorical slang, as every
one knew that a prig was what you built a

house with. So you see he meant a '
brick.'
He also says that he thinks it very foolish
of his friend to have called him a '

plastered
fool.' I do not like to know what he meant

by that. He writes that he has gone back to
Germany to find some one who understands

English."
[To /ace p. 39.
EDUCATION WITH HONOURS.

CHAPTER V.
" AND so, to sum up," I said, having had
almost as much as I could endure of
this touching narrative, " your young friend
carried everything before him, and came honie

crowned with laurels, and followed by an
obsequious attendant bearing a whole tray-
ful of race cups and other sporting trophies,
while medals glittered on his bosom, and

parchment certificates and diplomas followed
"
by luggage train ?
" Yes ! Yes, indeed !

" she cried, clasping
her hoofs in ecstasy at the recollection. " It
is all true. Oh ! they were right to tear him
from me. I feel it now more than I ever did.
Oh ! I cannot tell you how keenly I feel it.

The truth seems to dig into me Hke a coster-
monger."
Not having desired to produce quite such
a vivid impression, I decided to control my

impatience and take to the interrogative mood
once more.
" And what did you do ? " I asked.
*'
I ? Oh, I acted nobly, heroically," said
my poor little friend, wiping away a tear ;

and
added, in a plaintive voice, " Donkeys always
do."
" And the old people ?

" I said, to get to
a less distressing part of the subject.
" Don't speak of them ! Oh, the proud,

silly, puffed-up things !
" cried the little crea-
ture, trembling with rage. " x^s if it was any

merit of theirs ! And he was so good and
so modest all the time, casting down his eyes
and not making anything of it, while they
went on with *
Bravo, my boy,' and '
Oh, my
dear son,' and '
You are a colt of the old
\To face p. 41.
THE UNIVERSITY COURSE AT HOME.

1
Strain !
' and so on. But wait a bit. He will
be off somewhere else, one day, perhaps in
America, and they will be old, and lame, and

bony, and I shall see them in Covent Garden
with raw shoulders and no zinc ointment.
I'll let them know who I am as I go past.
I'll give them a look ! They'll remember me

"
then. Oh, the wicked, heartless old balloons !
We sank into silence again. Preoccupied

on her part ;
prudent on mine.
Presently she began once more.
" And the worst of it was that nothing
would take them down. When the shyness
once wore off, the way in which he used to

stand with his back to the fire at home and
hold forth would have curdled the blood of
any right-minded parents. His father liked

it. I don't believe he understood three-
fourths, for he had never been a reading colt
in his youth ; an average Learned Pig at a
fair could beat him any da}-. But I believe

he liked the idea that his boy had got familiar
with more names than he had ever heard.
Young Colter knew the whole studbook, back
to early Egypt, and all the plates they had
run for. I think the Philosopher's plate (with
a stone in it at one time, and a cup at

another) must have been the worst of all.
They ran for it on their heads, and there was

no handicapping. There is now, though
All the entries simply start at the winning-
post and never run at all. They sit there
and read the names of the winners of former

times, and the one that reads most gets the
plate."
" Bless my soul !

" I exclaimed, " what kind
"
of a race do they call that ?
" Education !
" said the little Donkey, with
such a contemptuous snort that it withered
the grass for three yards round.
I drew myself back a few inches. Perhaps

her scorn was reasonably justifiable, but I
THE GREYMARE ROiSIANCE. 43
had sat at that winning-post reading the
winners' names myself. It is strange how

an unfortunate personal experience can warp
our opinions on the simplest matters.
Besides which, I had a sort of vague idea
that she was taking advantage of mere figures
of speech as though they were arguments.
That sort of thing is apt to embitter the very
friendliest of relations. Sympathy between

sad lovers is a pretty bond, no doubt. But
if once an intrusive figure of speech comes
along, and begins to make mischief, it is hard
to say how long it will last.
We sulked for two precious minutes.
She made the first advances. Donkeys

have so little sense of dignity.
" I did not mean to hurt your feelings, sir,"
she murmured, as meek as a rabbit.
I made a herculean effort to be generous.

" What can my feelings possibly be in com-
parison with yours ?

" I contrived to croak out,
a little huskily, perhaps. " Please go on with
your story," I added, with as desperate an
attempt at cheerful interest as could be
expected on such short notice.

" My story ?
" she said ;
" oh ! it is hardly
worth going on with. And besides, it is so
very painful. But it is so good of you to
mind. I daresay you expect what was the
next thing. He actually went down by twi-
light, when the new moon was just above the

trees, and sat outside the stable on a truss
of hay by the young filly with his foreleg
round her withers. The cat on the roof told
me all about it. And he said the most beau-
tiful things to her about the moon. I am

sure I do not know where he got it from.
He never used to talk about the moon to me.
And the way in which he looked at her, and

she looked at him, with their eyes so close
the cat really thought they were trying to
change eyelashes. But I hardly suppose that

\To face p. 44.
RIPE AT LAST
was realh' the case. It must be a ver}-
painful operation, and I don't think lovers
ever do anything really painful for each other
at least, not sensible lovers. It spoils con-
versation so if you are hurt. It doesn't spoil
conversation to say the same things over
again, though ; at least, not for lovers. And

they did that. The cat learned every word
at last, and came and told it all to me. I
could not help listening, though it was just
like so many stabs in my bosom. I would

tell you all about it, but I daresay you have
done the very same, and it seems to make

you angry when we do the same things that
you do I am sure I do not know w^hy. I
think I do not know many things. I used
to suppose I did, but I don't."
Here she came to another stop, over-
whelmed by her own humility. She seemed

to have a way of running into conversational
sidings, and getting brought up dead still by
a different embankment of emotion each time.
I suppose there was a want of consistency
in that, but it is very hard to say whether
consistency is such a great merit after all.
At any rate, I have always heard that when
two people feel differently, this is variety, and
everybody praises variety. The world would

be so flat without it, they say. And incon-
sistency is only one person doing the work
of two. It is variety in a nutshell.
"And so, and so, and so," went on my

little rejected one, " that was the way. And
the old people knew all about it and never
said a word. One afternoon he and the
young filly came strolling along together in
the very field where she had seen him and

snubbed him when they were first introduced.
They were recalling it now with the greatest
satisfaction, and going over every inch of the

interview, including all the unspoken part.
It was, 'Then I said this,' and 'Then you

[ To face p. 47-
THE UNIVERSITY COURSE JUSTIFIED.

'
looked that,' and '

Then I felt the other,' and
'
Oh how
! little I knew thenl and so forth."
I understood these microscopic diagrams of
automatic globules of soul invisible to the
naked heart. Love is an awful lens. When

you get time to leave off using it as a
burning-glass, and begin to peep through,

you are amazed at what you see.
" Well," went on the little one, " right in
the middle of the field sat the old people.
They looked up and saw the young lovers
coming, and Mrs. Greymare said,

' Were
we not just like that at their time of life ?
'
One of us is just like that now, my love,'
he answered, looking at her in a meaning
manner. He was really a very sensible horse.
She must have led him an awful life for him

to have acquired so much judgment. Yes,
a little bird told me. The stable cat was not
there. I get to hear everything that happens,
one way or another."

48 THE GREYxMARE ROMANCE.
" It must be most interesting," I murmured.

"Interesting!" she cried; "oh, yes! It
is enormously interesting to be heart-broken,

I assure you. It takes up all one's attention
just for the time. But I was going to tell you

what they did. They I mean that wicked
boy and girl went right up to the old gentle-

man, as bold as if he was a judge at an agri-
cultural show, and then dropped down with

a sweet smile on their knees before him.
That brought things to a climax at once. Old

Greymare got out his blessing and pressed it
on to the tops of their heads. Mrs. Greymare
got out her handkerchief and pressed it to her
eyes. They really did look too silly ! I was

ashamed of them. Then they all came home
together, and there was such going about and
exchaneino; calls from field to field. The
hedges were made chiefly of gaps for weeks
after, all through the country. It was a good

thing for young Colter that he had practised
[To /ace p. î.
"BLESS YOU, MY CHILDREN!"

casting down his eyes and looking uncom-
fortable when he came back in all his glory
from* the university. It made some sort of a
lead for him, for he had to follow himself in
the same line now the only difference that
it was genuine this time. He did feel foolish.
He knew at the bottom of his heart that he
was being shown off as a kind of new orna-
ment that the young filly had got to wear.
The married horses used to give him an eye
now and then from under their forelocks, and
just lay back one ear playfully for a moment.
They knew the whole staircase of which he
had got his foot on the first step. They knew

the extraordinary and paradoxical nature of
its architecture too, for whereas man and wife
tread it together in step, such is the con-
struction of the ladder that one goes up-
stairs and one goes downstairs for ever and

ever."
'
May I ask," I interrupted, with some
4
hesitation, " where you learned to speak so

"
nicely about all this ?
" From an owl," replied my Donkey, rather

shortly. Then she continued, " But the ex-
citement began when the presents came
pouring in. There were three hundred
and seventy-nine of them. A magpie, who is
taking care of the portable ones in an old oak

tree, counted them for me. There was not
at first such variety as you would suppose.
Some people sent complete sets of harness,
Munster clothing for indoors, surcingles, pillar-
reins, and so forth. The greater number sent
shoes. If they had been straightened out a
light railway could have been made of them.
Lots of these were in silver, much too good
for every-day use. Some were plated, which
is silly, for after a single gallop the plating
wears off and shows the copper, and then, for
the life of you, you dare not lift up your heels

for fear of being caught. And then the nails !

THE GREYMARE ROMANCE. 5 I
Some had fancy heads. Some were steel.
Some were patent screws. Some were mere

wooden pegs. Some I am ashamed to say
had been used before, and were cleaned and

beaten out for the occasion. Most were of
the usual kind. There were ten pails full of
them. The pails came separately. So did

the wheelbarrow from a royal stable. That
young filly went wheeling it about all day,
and tilting it up to show the monogram.

Really, I have no patience to tell you of all
the things they had."
I could not but feel flattered, in the short
pause that she made here to collect her re-
miniscences, to see that at least my little friend
had no doubt about the patience of her
listener. I think I had deserved this, but
the flattery we get from ladies is more apt

to be of free gift, election, and grace, than
works.
In the innocence of my heart I supposed

we had got to the end of the subject of the

presents. I should know better now, but I
was not married then, and the action of the

feminine mind still had its mysteries for me.
I was soon undeceived.

" Yes," said the little one, just as though
I had spoken, " I think those nails gave
more trouble than all the rest. There were

so many of them, you see, and the greater
part had no maker's name or any sign on the

parcel to say where one could go afterwards
and change them at a loss for something

useful. And there is always a certain amount
of danger in advertising them in a paper, like
'
The Lady Mare,' for instance. People are
so sharp at catching that sort of thing, and
one never knows what they read. Besides,
arrangements had to be made that the actual

exchange was not to come off till after the
ceremony, because a lot of the givers would
be there looking out for their presents, which

quite filled a loose box and two stalls. If
some female relation had missed hers, there
would have been a family quarrel that might

have injured the prospects of the foals, if
any. There was just one nail that the young

filly would not have parted with at any
price, for she was not absolutely heartless, after
all. That had belonged to a poor spavined
old thing that had drawn a cart in the same

farm, and went limping round and round now
in a brick-crushing machine. She pulled it
out of her cracked foot with her own teeth,
for she could not afford to buy one, and

was too proud to beg. The consequence was
that the shoe came half off, and a workman
who had never been in a blacksmith's office
in his life hammered in a great house-nail
instead, and it went to the wrong place, and

gave more pain to the wretched thing than if
he had run it into her eye. She had to limp
and groan for three weeks after, and never

said a word. It is a very touching story,
isn't it ? You don't often hear of that sort of

"
devotion among the humans, do you ?
I was certainly not prepared with a case on
all fours with it from members of my own

species. The story went on :
" Well, I suppose, being a man, you can
hardly be expected to know enough to under-
stand all about these things, so I will just tell
you in two words that the ceremony was

simply splendid. The bride looked lovely,
with her mane all frizzed and filled with
white clover flowers. She had to roll in them

from eight o'clock in the morning till ten, and
then keep quite still to prevent their falling
out before the breakfast. Her white coat
shone like satin, and she was followed to the

paddock by six young strawberry roans,
walking two and two like a circus. Her

father gave her away. He was an old
charger from the Scots Greys, and looked

very grand and military, especially about the
nose. Poor young Colter was as nervous
as if he had never been to college, and if his
Best Horse had not given him a nudge and
whispered to remember his triumph in the
viva voce examination, he wouki never have
brought out a sound. When it was over they

all sat down to bran mash with beer in it,
and you ought just to have seen the cutting
of the Thorley's food cake. I cried, I do

assure you, but not with envy. Still, I could
not help thinking what it would have been

like if I had been in her place. And they
do say that it need not have been such an
unequal match after all, for though I could
never become what he was, if he had married
me he would certainly have been what I am,
and equality is everything in married life.
" There was a noble speech from the old

trooper full of beautiful thoughts. I wish I
could remember it for you."

" Please do not," I gasped faintly.
" Oh, you would admire it, I know. It was

all about keeping neck and neck through the
race of life, and remembering not to expect
it to be all on the flat, but preparing the mind
for the steeplechase course that it really was,
and never swerving at the five-barred gate of
difficulty, or jumping short at the waters of
affliction, and doing all this so as to keep in
condition for greater things in case your

country needed you ; and when the trumpet
for the last great charge should sound
but I cried so much I really can't remember

it all."
" Please do not distress yourself," I mur-
mured.
" And I'll tell you what I did !
" she sud-
denly began again, with a last dash of cheer-

fulness. " Just as they drove away I suddenly
remembered that there were some old shoes

nailed inside the barn door. And I got in
[To face J>. 57-
MAGNANI MITY.
and scrambled over the straw anyhow, and

hooked one down and sent it flying after them
like a quoit. I do hope it will bring them
good luck. At any rate, it only just escaped
breaking both their necks, and that is always
something at a wedding. Well well well

so it is past, and my little dream of life
is done. I am very glad to have had this
opportunity of telling you all about it, and I
sincerely hope it will have done you good."
At this moment the clock struck one. The

charm was over. I started to my feet. I
was alone. A sound of retreating steps and
a dim form jogging away, with long ears
flapping in the darkness, assured me that I
had, at least, been not entirely victimised by

hallucination.
How far the whole incident was a little
dream of my own I really cannot say. I
should like to go down to the common again
at the same witching hour and try once more,

but times are changed. I have been through

the dread experience of young Colter Grey-
mare myself now, and I am expected to be
in when I ought to be, and if I am out late
it is no longer in an irresponsible manner
like a stray sheep, but with a white shirt in
front and a black coat on my back, and the
coachman ordered at a pre-arranged moment

to take me no, I should have said to take
7is home.
Still, it may do some one else good who
knows ? Here it is, at any rate, on the
chance.
THE END.
Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.

PUBLICATIONS
GEORGE ALLEN
BY AUGUSTUS J. C HARE,
NORTH-EASTERN FRANCE.
I vol., crown 8vo, cloth, los. 6d. With Map and 86
Woodcuts. 532 pages.

Picardy Abbeville and Amiens Paris and its Environs Arras
and the Manufacturing Towns of the North Champagne Nancy
and the Vosges, etc.
SOUTH-EASTERN FRANCE.
I vol., crown Svo, cloth, los. 6d. With Map and 176
The different Lines to the South BurgundyAuvergneThe
CantalProvence The Alpes Dauphinaises and Alpes Maritimes,
etc.
SOUTH-WESTERN FRANCE.
I vol., crown Svo, cloth, los. 6d. With Map and 232
The Loire The Gironde and Landes Creuse Correze The
Limousin Gascoiny and Languedoc The Cevennes and the
Pyrenees, etc.
London : GEORGE ALLEN, 8, Bell Yard, Temple Bar ; and

Sunnyside, Orpington.

BY EDWARD T. COOK, M.A.,

Author of "A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery."
STUDIES IN RUSKIN:
Some Aspects of Mr. Ruskin's Work and
Teaching.
llhistraied with Eight Full-page and Five Half-page Wood-

cuts^ specially prepared ajid engraved for this work.
Small post 8vo, cloth, 6s. Also a Large-paper Edition,

crown 4to, 21s,
Containing, in addition to the above-mentioned Woodcuts,

Thirteen Full-page Autotypes of Drawings by Mr. Ruskin in the
Ruskin Drawing School, here reproduced for the first time by
special permission of the Curators of the University Galleries and
of the Master of the Drawing School.
Contents :
Part I. :
" The Gospel According to Ruskin."
Principles ofArt Apphcations to Life. Part II. Some :
Aspects of Mr. Ruskin's Work. Mr. Ruskin and Oxford

The Ruskin Drawing School Mr. Ruskin and the Working
Men's College Mr. Ruskin's May QueensThe St, George's
Guild and Museum Some Industrial Experiments Mr. Rus-
kin and the Booksellers. Appendices : Containing Notes on
Mr. Ruskin's Oxford Lectures.
GOSSAMER AND SNOWDRIFT.

The Posthumous Poems of Charles Mackay, LL.D.,
F.S.A.
With an Introductory Memoir by the Poet's Son, Eric

Mackay, Author of Love-Letters of a Violinist" etc.
^'
In I vol., crown 8vo, cloth, 5s.

2

- NOVELS BY BLANCHE ATKINSON.
THE WEB OF LIFE.

Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s.
"When so many novels have a cynical flavour, it is a great

pleasure to be able to recommend one which touches a good
many of the sore places of our social system, and yet breathes
throughout a spirit of charity to all classes." Guardian, Sep-
tember 25, 1889.
" A clever and thoughtful book . decidedly above the

. .
average ; and it is suggestive as well as interesting." Graphic,

October 26, 1889.
" No one could wish a prettier bit of reading for holiday hours."
Literary IVorld, September 20, 1889.
THEY HAVE THEIR REWARD.

Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s.
"Miss Atkinson is to be congratulated upon having added a

genuinely original touch of romance to the familiar miser of
fiction." AthouEuin, May 17, 1890.
"We are ready to take a good deal for granted, if the personages
of a story really interest us, as they certainly do in Miss Atkinson's
story." Spectator, August 23, 1890.
" The promise furnished by The Web of Life is here ful-

'
filled. There pervades it, from first to last, an earnest moral

purpose." Liverpool Mercury, May 7, 1890.
" It is not a commonplace story, and treats some important
questions with a freshness and originality that are very attrac-
tive." 6"/?^^^/^^ Independent, May 10, 1890.
" We have not come across a better all-round book than this for
a long i\xa.&"Cluirch Reviezv, October 3, 1890.

3
BY REV. BASIL EDWARDS, M.A.,
Late of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge ; Rector of

Ashleworth, Gloucester.
SONGS OF A PARISH PRIEST.

IFiik Full-page Woodcut of Old Churchyard Cross at Ashle-
worth, and Music to " Our Mother Church of England.'"
In Parchment Wrapper, 2s. ; cloth, 2s. 6d. ; roan, gilt edges,

4s. 6d. Second Edition.
Extract from Preface.

"It has seemed to the writer of this little book, that in
every parish and every country village there are, besides the
living voice of the Church, numberless silent witnesses which
appeal to her sons' and daughters' hearts ; and that all the
associations, even of the material things which form part of
and surround the 'houses of God in the land,' are intensely
sacred,and are full of teaching. The quiet of a country
charge has enabled the writer to endeavour to link together
many of the objects most prominently connected with sacred
thought in a rural parish, and to present the results to the
reader in somewhat of a sequence, leading step by step from
the Lych-Gate to the Altar."'
" They seem to me singularly attractive, both in grace of com-

position and in spirit and thought. I have not often been so much
touched and satisfied by sacred poetry. It is a gift to us all,
for which I am grateful. Yours faithfully, R. W. Church. The
Deanery, St. Paul's, August 10, 1888."

.
4
"^^Xc^^-^N ^t^ ^-^0

Grey Mare Romance

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Grey Mare Romance

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

^l<WW>WMi?9>"'*l**<*<"*'^''i*!

WITH TITLE-PAGE AND TWENTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS

I. HAPPY DAYS OF INNOCENCE

17. FREE-HOOF DRAWING EXAMINATION 36

18. NATURAL HISTORY EXAMINATION .

19. EDUCATION WITH HONOURS .

20. THE UNIVERSITY COURSE AT HOME 41

21. RIPE AT LAST .... 44

" T DARESAY you think that as I am

Between the first words and the last I had

that there was no human being visible. The

Barnes Common. I was young, and unpros-

The weather was warm and cloudy. There

was no moon. I had come out to think,

All of a sudden it flashed upon me that

from the mind-waves that roll out of the head

as easily as a clerk can read the tape that

crawls from a telegraphic machine.

I sat up and looked round.

voice, "but your commonest phases of con-

know what you think yourself."

for if one can do nothing else with a bodiless

voice one can at least contradict it. " I was

thinking, when you interrupted me, of the

" Before that," said the voice, with a quiet

assumption of knowing all that I had thought

" Well, let me see," I began, setting my

" As you seem to know all about it," I

replied, getting irritated at last, " perhaps you

Even on this dark night I should see your

legs against the sky if you were standing

graphy photophone, under the surface of the

account of the night dew having got through

a crack of the insulators and established a

connection with the sod I am lying on."

The voice laughed, a rather unpleasant

laugh laughs that indicate that we are fools

are so often unpleasant and answered,

yourself down you observed an outcast don-

key, grazing alone in the darkness, and said

to yourself, with what you thought would

It was a fact. And what was more, I

began to perceive that I was conversing with

the donkey himself, or, as I learned presently,

At the same moment the probable results

raced through my mind, the discovery of a

Common, the identification, the paragraph in

the papers, the feelings of Violet when she

to health, her assiduous care of me that

consciousness of blessed repose when the

desperate struggle with the dark monster

had triumphed and when her cool hand

" There you go about hands again," said

do so hate them nasty pulpy silly things ;

and so cunning and treacherous, winding

got none myself, I'm proud to say, and if

I overlook it in you, it is only because you

are unusually intelligent for a man, and so

I am glad to think as little about your

defects as possible. Now listen to me.

6 THE GREYMARE ROMANCE.

When, on the stroke of midnight, one of

and alone, and a ray of lucidity reveals to

you that you are not quite what you thought

^l<WW>WMi?9>"'*l**<<"'^''i*!